Process for finishing jewel settings



March 10, 1925- 1,528,872

H. COLOMB PROCESS FOR FINISHING JEWEL SETTINGS Filed April 24, 1923 lg-A Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

UNIT-ELDI'STATES 1,528,872 PATENT OFFICE.

HENRI COLOMB, OF 'IA'VANNES,SWITZERLAND.

PROCESS FOR FINISHING JEWEL SETTINGS.

4 Application filed-April'24, 1923. Serial-Nb. 634,349.

To all whom it away concern:

Be it known that I, HENRI OOIDMB,;3. citizen of Confederation of Switzerland, residing at Tavannes, Switzerland, have.invented certain new and useful'lmprovements in Processes for Finishing Jewel Settings, of which the following is a specification.

In certain time-keeping pieces jewel settings are. used in order to serve as bearings for the whee l-work. "These settings contain a jewel. set in the metal. in the hoies of which the pivots of the. said wheels are placed. The invention is also applicable to bushings used in time-keeping mechanisms which are notrprovided with-stones,ibut,'on the contrary, are cylindrical metal pieces pierced or bored along their longitudinal axis.

This (of great importance that the periphcry of a jewel setting or bushing should be of exact circumference, having'its'center in the axis of the hole in the stone or in the axis of the hole in the bushing, as thecase may be.

The object of the present invention is to provide a metliod according to which the peripheral surfaces of bushings and jewel settings for timekeeping pieces can be rendered truly cylindrical and this with the required axial boring in the bushing or through the stone of the setting at the exact centre of the circle defined by said peripheral surface. This is accomplished by maintaining the stone or the bushing in position by the hole therethrough, so that the axis of the latter is centrical with respect to an opening in a punch and a die, by means of which the circumference of the piece is then rectified by forcing the work through the opening in the die.

This process may be realized in different ways, some of which, by way of example, are embodied in the accompanying drawing. Such constructions, however, form no part of the present invention; on the contrary, they form part of a co-pending application filed by me on September 28, 1921 under Serial No. 503,994.

In the drawings:

Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 illustrate one method of carryingthe invention into effect; and

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 illustrate respectively three further methods.

Referring to Figs. 1 4 inclusive, a indicates a punch adapted to cooperate with a die 6. Through an opening in the latter is adapted to glide aguide-member c, which at one end is provided with a "centrallydisposed conical pin d, for the purpose hereinafter to be described. The said guidemember makes a snug fit with the opening in the die Z) so that it can be reciprocated through said opening without the possibility of lateral movement. In Figure 1, the parts are indicated in what may be termed their starting position, that is to say, the upper edge of the guide-member c is flush with the upper face of the die 5, and the punch a is poised above the setting to be operated upon but some little distance therefrom. As the punch a commences its downward movehave attained the position shown in Figure 5 2, the guide-member c is withdrawn to the position shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the punch a in continuing its downward movement, forces the setting through the remaindcr :of the opening in the upper part of. the die, out into a channel 6, throu h which is forced a current of air suflicientl strong to carry the setting out of the channel and into any appropriate receptacle or otherwise.

n the upward movement of the punch a, the guide-member 0 also moves upwardly, until the said parts are again in position for a further setting to be placed on the pin (Z, after which the operation is repeated as above described, and so on.

In the construction shown in Fig. 5, the pin al is disposed in a. punch a placed underneath the die. A spring 7 constantly maintains the pinv in its operative position as shown in said figure. The pin as in the first-described example is of a conical shape and its purpose is to firmly maintain the jewel setting, or the bushing, as the case may be, in a perfectly central position with respect to the cutting edge of the die 5 The action will be obvious from that described above.

In the construction shown in Fig. 6, the punch a is on top. It is movable with respect to thedies b in which an opening is made cooperating with the punch for the rectification of the exterior periphery of asetting or bushing.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 7, aguide-member 0 holds the piece in a centered position with respect to the die 6 which is lowered to meet the punch a. A pipe 9 is provided in the latter through which compressed air passes to assist in holding the setting or bushing in its place on the pin of the guide-member 0 during the entire duration of the finishing process. Afterwards the setting or bushing can be ejected from the inside of the die through the channel a by means of compressed air forced through the pipe it.

hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of finishing the peripheral surfaces of bearings for time-keeping mechanism, which consists in centering the hole in the bearing with respect to a die, forcing the bearing into the die while maintaining it centered, and forcing the bearing through the die, the walls of the die effecting the required rectification of the bearing.

2. In a method of finishing the peripheral surfaces of bushings and settings for timekeeping pieces, mounting and maintaining the bushings and settings by their axial boring in a centered position with respect to a punch and a die, and then rectifying the peripheral surface of said bushings and settings by said punch and die by forcing them through the opening in the die, the walls of which opening perform the required rectification.

In a method of finishing the peripheral surfaces of bushings and settings for timekeeping pieces, mounting and maintaining the bushings and settings in a centered position with respect to a punch and a (lie on a conical pin positioned in the axis of said punch and die and on which pin the bushings and settings can be mounted means of the axial bore therethrough, and then forcing the work through the opening in the die by means of the punch, the walls of the die forming said opening effecting the required rectification of the bushings and settings.

4. In a process for finishing bushings and settings for time-keeping pieces mounting and maintaining the bushings and settings in centered position with respect to a punch and a die by means of an upstanding conical pin located on a guide member adapted to pass through an opening in the die, which pin is retracted as soon as the work is engaged by the die, and then forcing said work through the die.

The method of finishing bushings and settings for time-keeping mechanism comprising mounting and maintaining the bushings and settings by the axial bore therethrough on a conical pin disposed in the axial centre of a punch and die, forcing the bushings and settings into an opening in the die of which said pin is the axial centre, retracting said pin during the engagement of the bushings and settings by the die. at the same time continuing the said move ment through the die, and finally removing the bushings and settings from the die through a lateral opening therein by c0mpressed air.

In testimony whereof I hereunto attix my signature.

HENRI COLOMB 

